Most collectors wont pay $200-250 for a game issued jersey with the exception of a few players. Unfortunately for teams and distributors, this is the actual cost of producing the jersey itself, so when game issue jerseys get discounted down from $200-250, the team takes a loss. This is why many teams start auctions and pricing at $250 to the dismay of some collectors.
A larger issue for the team is when the team switches jersey styles or the league uses different models. These model and style changes can leave teams with an overstock of unusable jerseys at about $160 a piece. Lettering, numbers, and stitching the appropriate patches on a jersey end up running the price up another $75-100 per jersey for game issued jerseys.
The Reebok to Adidas switch this year has left some teams with an overstock of team issue jerseys. Meigray, who from what I understand handle the purchase and lettering of the jerseys while sending the final product to the teams for use, seems to have a decent among of stock on hand creating a great opportunity for jersey collectors to get as close as you can to an on-ice authentic as possible (just find lettering). Right now, you can find team issue jerseys from Meigray teams on ebay for a fraction of the cost of the jersey to the team in order to eliminate old stock.
If you didn’t know the cost of purchasing and lettering a jersey, you may now understand why the most common baseline for a jersey is roughly $250.